Terms and Definitions

Bike Route Rating Guide

This chart explains the Roman Numeral rating system used on this site
to describe various bike route characteristics.
In general, 1 is good, 5 is bad.
Please be aware that it is very difficult to characterize a ride with just
a single number, so be sure to read the route description before you head out.

Rating

Terrain

Traffic

Scenery

1

Basically Flat

Little or no cars. Mostly paths or rural roads.

Very Scenic - lots of trees, mountains, water, and other cool stuff like that.

2

Some hills, but nothing nasty

Some traffic but there are usually wide shoulders and/or side paths available.

Mostly scenic with some urban sections.

3

Rolling terrain, with one or two tougher hills.

Some sections require riding in traffic lanes.

About half scenic and half urban sections.

4

A bit more roll, with several tougher hills.

Lots of traffic and riding in lanes.

It could be worse.

5

Alps. Long brutal climbs

Bring your flak jacket.

It is worse.

Direction Abbreviations

This table shows the abbreviations used on bike route cue sheets.
Abbreviated directions (left, right, etc) allow more space on the
page for mileage info and comments.